Przewalski Horse coat type

[Arizona Docent]

I recently saw some old and new photos of przewalski horses that reminded me of something I have been curious about for a while. When you look at the old black and white photo of a newly captured herd in the London Zoo in the 1800's, they have very thick (and I mean very) long shaggy coats. None of the modern przewalskis seem to have that, even in the winter in their reintroduced area of Mongolia. I just read a chapter on the reintroduction with photos of them in the snow in Mongolia, and although their coat does appear to be thicker than a summer coat, it is not the long dangling coat seen in the old photos.

Any ideas why? Have the current generation been crossbred with a little domestic horse blood resulting in a shorter coat? Or were the 1800's horses captured during an unusually severe winter?

 

[FBBird]

Przewalski Horse type coat

It is likely that the newly imported foals, having travelled thousands of miles, much of it on foot, were in poor overall condition, and had a combination of unmoulted juvenile/winter coat and new coat coming through; no captive bred horse since then has been in that sort of condition. Can someone with more equid expertise than me, confirm if this makes sense?
One of the founder mares had domestic blood, but I'm not sure to what extent her inheritance persists in the modern stock.

 

[Tim May]

I recently saw some old and new photos of przewalski horses that reminded me of something I have been curious about for a while. When you look at the old black and white photo of a newly captured herd in the London Zoo in the 1800's, they have very thick (and I mean very) long shaggy coats. None of the modern przewalskis seem to have that, even in the winter in their reintroduced area of Mongolia. I just read a chapter on the reintroduction with photos of them in the snow in Mongolia, and although their coat does appear to be thicker than a summer coat, it is not the long dangling coat seen in the old photos.

I agree with you, the photographs of the original importations show animals with very long shaggy coats; I’ve never seen any zoo specimens with coats as thick or long as on those animals in the early photographs.

Actually, though, I think that London Zoo obtained its first Przewalski’s horses in 1902; these were acquired from Carl Hagenbeck.

 

[IanRRobinson]

How far does anyone think that what we refer to as "Przewalski's horse" is actually a selected form from a mixture of genuine wild/domesticated animals caught in Mongolia?

Photos taken of domestic horses in Mongolia show so many animals with wild horse characteristics that it's hard to imagine that there hasn't been a near-continuous mixture of genes over hundreds of years.

 

[jbnbsn99]

Most P. Horses you see today do have some domestic ancestry in them. These are known at the B-line. The A-line is pure P. Horse, but last I read only consists of 100-200 animals.

 

[gentle lemur]

There are chromosomal differences between Przewalski horses and domestic horses, although they can interbreed.
You can trace all the Przewalski horses in the on-line studbook at General Studbook Of The Przewalski Horse
The domestic mare is studbook number 229.

Alan

 

[Tim May]

I agree with you, the photographs of the original importations show animals with very long shaggy coats; I’ve never seen any zoo specimens with coats as thick or long as on those animals in the early photographs.

Actually, though, I think that London Zoo obtained its first Przewalski’s horses in 1902; these were acquired from Carl Hagenbeck.

The well-known 1902 photograph of London Zoo's newly arrived young Przewalski’s horses, in their thick winter coat, is reproduced in Erna Mohr’s book The Asiatic Wild Horse (1971). Interestingly the same book has photos of other newly imported animals with very long shaggy winter coats too.

It is likely that the newly imported foals, having travelled thousands of miles, much of it on foot, were in poor overall condition, and had a combination of unmoulted juvenile/winter coat and new coat coming through; no captive bred horse since then has been in that sort of condition. Can someone with more equid expertise than me, confirm if this makes sense?

In the book I mentioned above, Erna Mohr makes a similar comment referring to “excitement of capture.......hardships of the journey” and the effect that this has on the animals not shedding their coats.